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Debt Ceiling Talks; Former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown: Sunday Times Hacked Me; U.S. Cuts Aid to Pakistan; Atlanta Schools Cheating Scandal/Florida's Sweepstakes Cafes; Checking the Truth-O- Meter; Deciphering Brain Injuries; Close Encounter in Yellowstone

Aired July 11, 2011 - 12:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Want to get you up to speed.

A startling twist in the newspaper scandal that is gripping Great Britain. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown says the London "Sunday Times" obtained his personal financial records. This allegedly happened in 2000, well before Brown became prime minister.

"The Sunday Times" is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns the "News of the World," the paper behind the phone-hacking scandal. Well, Brown says another Murdoch paper, "The Sun," obtained medical records on Brown's seriously ill son.

A mob attacked the American Embassy in Damascus, Syria. That happened today. The crowd climbed the embassy fence, threw rocks at the building, but never got inside the building itself. The Syrian military eventually dispersed the mob, but a U.S. official says troops were slow to respond.

President Obama still wants to big, comprehensive, long-term deal to bring order to the federal government's finances. He says both parties need to take on their sacred cows to get it done in a news conference just this last hour. President Obama pressed Republicans to compromise their no new taxes pledge. The president says he is willing to put Social Security and Medicare on the table, despite resistance from many Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have these high- minded pronouncements about how we've got to get control of the deficit and how we owe it to our children and our grandchildren. Well, let's step up. Let's do it.

I am prepared to do it. I am prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done. And I expect the other side should be willing to do the same thing if they mean what they say, that this is important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The idea of a grand budget deal grew out of talks to increase the debt ceiling. Now, the president and Congress have to raise the nation's borrowing limit by August 2nd, or the United States is going to default on its bills.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tells Iraqi leaders, crush militants who are attacking American troops. Panetta is on his first visit to Iraq as the Pentagon chief, and he says Iran is arming the militants and that that needs to stop. Attacks on U.S. forces are now increasing. The number of American forces in Iraq is going down under a plan to withdraw by the end of the year.

At least 46 people are confirmed dead and dozens missing after a Russian cruise ship sank on the Volga River. Officials say the ship, the Bulgaria, was not licensed and had too many passengers on board.

Eighty people so far have been pulled from the river. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a special government investigation. He called the ship built in 1955 "an old tub."

A third of U.S. military aid to Pakistan, $800 million, is now on hold. The U.S. says that Pakistan needs to do more to get rid of al Qaeda and Taliban within its borders. Ties between the allies soured after the secret U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Pakistan has ordered dozens of military trainers home and refused visas to other American personnel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DALEY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The Pakistani relationship is difficult, but it must be made to work over time. But until we get through these difficulties, we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A funeral service in Brownwood, Texas, today for firefighter Shannon Stone. He fell over a rail at Texas Rangers baseball game last week while trying to catch a ball. Stone hit a scoreboard head first and died at a hospital a short time later. Texas Rangers fans paid tribute to Shannon Stone at yesterday's game. His 6-year-old son watched this tragic accident as it happened.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories looking ahead.

First, the United States pulls the plug on Pakistan funding. We're going to bring you reaction over losing over $800 million.

Plus, another paper owned by Rupert Murdoch accused now of crossing the line. This time it is former prime minister Gordon Brown who says that he was hacked.

We have also got more on the cheating scandal that has rocked Atlanta schools. I'm going to talk to a teacher who says he was fired for being a whistle-blower .

And calling out the politicians. Tell the truth or face the Truth-o- Meter.

Plus, days after a man is mauled to death at Yellowstone, a woman has a too-close-for-comfort encounter with another bear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): As the bear approaches her, hiker Erin Profit (ph) runs out of ground to retreat to. The bear doesn't charge her, but isn't backing down either. Erin (ph) gets ready to make a swim for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More claims of illegal eavesdropping and hacking by British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch.

I want to get straight to our CNN's Dan Rivers, who is in London.

And Dan, tell us about this. Some of the claims go right to the heart of the British government now.

DAN RIVERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It goes right to the heart of the British establishment on every level.

Gordon Brown, the former prime minister and former finance minister here, is claiming that it appears that possibly he was targeted by journalists from News International newspapers. Not this time from the "News of the World," but from different titles -- "The Sunday Times" and "The Sun" newspaper. Claiming investigators working on behalf of "The Sunday Times" tried to get his bank account details by posing as him on the phone, that they also tried to get details about a property that he was selling from his lawyers.

And "The Sun" tabloid newspaper, the sister paper of the "News of the World," investigators there tried to get details of an illness that his son had which then ended up being a front page story. And one of the other papers here this evening has got a story -- the "Evening Standard" saying the queen's police told her details to "News of the World," saying that royal protection officers gave the "News of the World" phone numbers and itineraries of the British monarch.

So it's difficult to imagine it getting much more serious when former prime ministers and the current monarch are targeted amongst the victims, including families of victims of 9/11, of terrorists attacks, the whole raft of people, murder victims and so on. It's just getting bigger and bigger.

MALVEAUX: So, Dan, what do the London police have to say about this? They are investigating all of this.

RIVERS: They are investigating all of this. They have come under stinging criticism for the way that they conducted that initial investigation. Now they have a different officer in charge, and she is due to speak here tomorrow.

But, yes. I mean, they have got some embarrassing situations here with their own force, allegedly, according to this newspaper, being involved with selling details about the royal family. It's not an easy place for them.

MALVEAUX: And Rupert Murdoch, he's already shut down the tabloid "News of the World." What about his corporation's promise to sell Britain's Sky News? Is that still happening? And do we know if Murdoch is still in London, if he's got any comments on this allegation?

RIVERS: Yes. Well, in terms of the -- there's a proposed takeover in the pipeline that News Corp. wants to take over one of the broadcasters news, a chunk of the broadcaster that it doesn't already own. That now is right in the eye of this political storm, and it's being referred to a regulator here, which means it's going to be delayed for some time. I won't get into the nitty-gritty of it, but that's one strand of this.

But Rupert Murdoch himself is in London, we think, to deal with this crisis. He had dinner with his embattled executive, Rebekah Brooks. So far, there's no real comment from either of them, other than the party line from News International, which is Rebekah Brooks knew nothing about all this when it was going on.

MALVEAUX: All right. Dan Rivers, we'll be following this very closely. Thank you, Dan. Appreciate it.

Well, tensions are heating up between the United States and Pakistan after the raid on Bin Laden's compound. Well, now the Obama administration is withholding $800 million in military aid to Pakistan. The Pakistanis are responding by saying you can keep your money.

CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend, she joins us. She's a member of both the CIA and Department of Homeland Security external advisory committees.

And Fran, thanks for joining us.

First of all, I want you to take a listen. This is the new defense secretary, Leon Panetta, talking about where we stand in fighting against al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: My goals are to defeat al Qaeda, that obviously we made an important start with that with getting rid of Bin Laden. But I was convinced in my prior capacity and I am convinced in this capacity that we're within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Within reach, Fran, of strategically defeating al Qaeda.

Is it going to be harder to fight if we don't have the help from Pakistan?

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, it absolutely is going to be harder. Look, in any of these countries, whether it's Pakistan, the tribal areas, or it's Yemen or Somalia, wherever there is a weak central government, where they don't exert the full control of the central government in an area, it's to al Qaeda's advantage.

I mean, I think Leon Panetta is right. We are within reach of strategically defeating them. But that's a key phrase there, "strategically."

It doesn't mean the threat goes away. You're still going to have the less trained and others trying to pull off attacks. But the strategic defeat means getting the leadership that remains so that they can't pull off a massive attack like 9/11. And I think he's right we're within reach, but it becomes much harder without the help of Pakistan.

MALVEAUX: And the military, it's the most important institution in Pakistan. So what does that mean for them if they lose $80 million? What does it mean in terms of their ability or even their willingness to help fight against al Qaeda?

TOWNSEND: Well, Suzanne, you know, the U.S. government didn't want to find itself here either. We've had -- there have been tensions, and they have been tried to be managed across three administrations, including the current one. And even this administration was reluctant to use aid as the lever, because, of course, when you deny them certain kinds of aid, what happens is you deny them the U.S. support for activities you want them to undertake.

And so this is not a good place to be for either country. The question is, can they find a way back? Can they create a path agreed upon by both sides where there are confidence-building measures that allow them to build back to a path where you can turn that aid back on?

MALVEAUX: So how do they get there, Fran? Is this simply kind of a slap on the wrist here, or is this a real threat by the Obama administration that, look, they are fed up with Pakistan, they're not going to deal with them in the same way?

TOWNSEND: Oh, no. It's much more than a mere slap on the wrist.

I mean, look, I don't think the administration wanted to find themselves having to get to this point. There's been tremendous both public pressure and pressure from Congress for them to use this, and the problem here is it's one of national pride.

I mean, what you are seeing is Pakistan, in some instances, saying keep your aid, because they don't wants to sort of have to get a report card and get the approval of the U.S. administration or the U.S. Congress to get this aid. I mean, remember, Pakistan has its own citizens and its own domestic politics to manage, and we make it much more difficult for them to do that by using the aid card.

Look, I think it was inevitable. The relationship has been deteriorating, and most recently, with Admiral Mullen acknowledging that the Pakistani government had some role in killing the Pakistani journalist. And so we were going to find ourselves here. They're now going to have to privately agree upon a path to get out of it, because both sides are going to want a way out.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Frank Townsend.

Thank you very much, Fran.

Well, it's a new beginning for a brand-new country. But after the celebrations, it's now time to get to the work in South Sudan. Michael Holmes joins us to explain just how difficult it's going to be to get the new nation off the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, the world map changed this weekend. A new nation was carved into Africa. The people of South Sudan finally have their independence, but they also have tremendous obstacles to overcome as a newborn state in one of the poorest parts of the world.

Our Michael Holmes is here to go "Beyond the Headlines."

And Michael, give us a sense. Tell us what took place on Saturday night, because a lot of people were watching.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was a big day over there.

We saw a country blossom out of really what has been five decades of war and death in Sudan. They had celebrations kicking off around midnight. They had thousands of people in the streets of Juba, which is the new capital. They were all screaming "Freedom!" Obviously, a very happy scene.

And this new country is the size of Texas. The old country, Sudan, before they split it, was the 10th largest country in the world. It's home to eight million people. And this was Africa's largest nation, now broken into two. But, you know, the dividing line between South Sudan and what is now just known as Sudan, it was already pretty obvious.

What happened -- and this is where the trouble started -- the southern third of the nation has always been Christian. The north has always been Muslim. And that is what really was behind this long-standing civil war that we saw going on for years. Two million people died during this. They're obviously not just soldiers, a lot of women and children as well.

MALVEAUX: Now, Michael, there are some really big challenges ahead for this new country.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Can you explain a little bit about that?

HOLMES: South Sudan is in big trouble, really. It's one of the poorest countries in the world. Most of the people there are living on less than a dollar a day. Few roads. Listen to this. Less than 100 miles of paved roads in the entire country.

Most of the villages, no electricity, running water. The water quality that they do get is bad.

A 15-year-old girl, for example, has got a better chance of dying in childbirth than finishing high school. I mean, there's not much education going on there at all. Ten percent of children don't make it to their 5th birthday.

There's ongoing violence, there's kidnapping, instability. It's part of daily life there, and you have got the ethnic decisions that still continue.

MALVEAUX: So is there a sign of hope that this country actually can be successful as an independent nation?

HOLMES: It's going to need an awful lot of help. You know, the soil there is pretty good for farming. But more importantly, the south is where the oil is.

There is oil. That's 375,000 barrels of oil a day, and that's going to be the lifeblood for the new nation. But it's interesting that the oil pipelines run through the north of the country, what is now Sudan. So you're going to have difficulties there. A lot's being discussed.

MALVEAUX: So who is actually running the show? Who is in charge there in South Sudan?

HOLMES: Well, this goes back to the whole decades of war. The state is essentially being built out of a guerilla army, the SPLA, the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

MALVEAUX: And explain to us, how does this relate to Darfur? Because that's the one thing that everybody knows about when you think Sudan.

HOLMES: Yes. Darfur is an absolute tragedy. In western Sudan, this is.

This is in 2003. The area exploded into what many called a genocide.

We can call it a genocide. It was. The Sudanese government massacred non-Arab civilians, drove more than two million people off their land.

That conflict is still festering. And important to remember, the president of Sudan is President Omar al-Bashir. He stands at the moment indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide over Darfur. So you're going to have a leader in the north, in Sudan, with little to lose by playing tough guy when it comes to things like the oil revenues.

MALVEAUX: And we know that the administration, very much involved in Darfur in trying to bring about change.

HOLMES: Yes, the Bush administration. That's right.

Back in '05, around that period, the Bush administration was pushing along the talks, the peace treaty that would eventually lead to what we have seen today, the South seceding and starting their own country.

But as I said, you've got to remember, these two countries are being divorced in name only. They have not reached agreements on the final borders. There's been shelling up along parts of the border by the Sudanese army just in the last few days. The status of respective citizens have got to be worked out.

A lot of potential for more violence. As I said, the oil revenues for one.

MALVEAUX: All right.

HOLMES: It's still a very troubled place.

MALVEAUX: It's going to be a very, very difficult time.

HOLMES: You have got a place that's so huge, 100 miles of paved roads in the entire country.

MALVEAUX: That's unbelievable.

HOLMES: You've got a long way to go.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Well, we'll keep our eye on it. Thank you so much, Michael. Appreciate it.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Well, when educators cheat. That's right. I'm going to speak with a former Atlanta school teacher who says he was fired when he blew the whistle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This just in. Want to bring you some news about an Amtrak train accident. This is coming from WCVB, a chopper that is on the way to this scene.

Jamie Maynord (ph), the dispatcher for the (INAUDIBLE) regional communications, confirms that an Amtrak passenger train collided with a truck. This is in North Berwick, Maine. It happened around 11:00 this morning.

Now, this spokeswoman says that there are some injuries, some of them serious. We do not have a number of those injuries, but we do know that some are serious. She's confirmed that this accident resulted in a fire, but she didn't know if that fire was still blazing or if it had actually been put out.

This is Amtrak Downeaster number 691, involved in a collision. This is shortly after 11:00 o'clock this morning in North Berwick Maine. And we understand a chopper's on the way from WCVB. As soon as we bring you pictures of this accident, this Amtrak accident, we will come back to this story.

We are also working another story. We want to go beyond the headlines in the cheating scandal that has rocked Atlanta public schools. Just last week, a state investigation found 178 teachers and principals either erased wrong answers on students standardized tests or knew about the cheating and said nothing.

Joining me now is a former Atlanta teacher, Paul Landerman, who says that he was fired because he blew the whistle on cheating. Also joining us is CNN education contributor Steve Perry.

Paul, I want to start off with you. First of all, thank you for being here and to be so open about what was going on. You were a Japanese teacher for four years in the Atlanta school system, and you say that there was a day that you realized, you discovered, there was massive cheating going on. What happened?

PAUL LANDERMAN, WHISTLEBLOWER FIRED FROM JOB: It was very simple. I was actually just walking down the hallway outside the testing room, the laboratory, and the proctor teacher, who was at that time the English department chair, asked me to step in and relieve her for a few minutes while she took a break, used the restroom, so forth. And I stepped inside the testing room, and 40 or 50 juniors and seniors in the high school were seated together at round tables, collaborating with each other on the state high school graduation test.

MALVEAUX: And what did you do when you saw that? Did you report it?

LANDERMAN: Well, I went immediately to my mentor teacher, asked his opinion of things. He said, Don't rock the boat, leave it alone. By the end of the day, I decided to call the state testing office, reported it to them. They immediately called the central office testing director at Atlanta public schools and reported back to them. So it became a closed loop.

The next morning, those folks from the central office called me to continue the investigation. She asked me if I knew the names of the students involved. I did not know them because I was teaching sophomores. These were juniors and seniors. She said, In that case, if you do not know the students, there was no incident.

MALVEAUX: And what did you think of that? I mean, what was your reaction when people started to seemingly kind of ignore what you were saying here?

LANDERMAN: Well, at that point, I'd been teaching for over 15 years in public schools, and it was really a shock to me. You hear of these things, but you never actually experience them. But when it was so blatant, and my mentor teacher advising me to ignore it and walk away -- it -- it was just very, very disconcerting. I could not believe that professionals would act that way.

MALVEAUX: And then, Paul, you got fired shortly afterwards. Did they give any kind of explanation? What did they say to you?

LANDERMAN: Well, it was sort of like the current divorce settlement between Arnold and Maria. It was, We can't get along together anymore, so why don't you go away?

MALVEAUX: We want to mention to our audience that we did reach out to Atlanta's schools about your accusation. The spokesman says that the system -- you know, they can't comment on personnel issues. But clearly, that was very disturbing to you, and now you're out of work. You're out of a job. What kind of place, what kind of environment did you work in? Were there rumors that this kind of thing was going on?

LANDERMAN: Well, there were rumors of this kind of thing. And there was a complete, I would say, environment of toxicity there, where principals were given such autonomous power that they ran schools like Early College at Carver (ph), as if it were their own property, a principal smoking in her office, that type of thing. It was a very toxic environment.

MALVEAUX: Last question here. Was there pressure? Did teachers or principals feel a lot of pressure because of these standardized tests, these tests that now students have to pass and do well in order for teachers to keep their jobs and in order for them to keep their school system as it is?

LANDERMAN: There is a lot of that happening. In fact, at the end of the fall semester, the principal issued a memorandum to us telling us to not give failing grades to any student.

MALVEAUX: Well, Paul, thank you for joining us. I understand you are looking for work...

LANDERMAN: Certainly.

MALVEAUX: ... that you are in El Paso, Texas. We certainly wish the very...

LANDERMAN: That's right.

MALVEAUX: ... best for you in moving forward. And do you think you'll still be in education?

LANDERMAN: I think so. It's a family trait. Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Paul.

I want to go to our education contributor, Steve Perry, who's in Hartford, Connecticut. You know, Steve, when we hear this, it's just shocking. It's surprising. But you know, some people say that this cheating, the scope of this cheating by principals and teachers in the Atlanta school system -- that it's not just here but it's widespread. Is that true?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: Suzanne, I have to tell you, I am a principal -- you know, you're in the principal's office. Welcome. And when I first heard of the cheating, I actually thought that it was a lie. I thought that they were just picking on the school district as that was rolled out. And as we did a story on it, I found more and more as I talked to reporters from the AJC, "Atlanta Journal-Constitution,' and found the depth of it, it was stunning. It's still stunning to me.

On some level, it feels like I, as an educator, have been kicked in the stomach. I feel a certain sense of responsibility when members of my profession go so far to do so much wrong.

MALVEAUX: Steve, do we know how widespread this is, if is this a common problem, or is this very specific to some school districts that feel a lot of pressure and are having teachers and principals behave badly?

PERRY: I received some information through Twitter from teachers throughout the country who say that they, too, were feeling pressure. But the overwhelming majority, millions of teachers and principals and other forms of education professionals, understand that this is part of our obligation to provide you, the community, with clear and concise information on our students' capacity.

In order for there to even be cheating in a school, you have to have the principals at least willing to turn their eye to it and/or participating in a very real way. I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. I'm just telling you the facts. The way the process of administering these tests occurs, it's so locked tight that you have to have the person responsible for reporting it be a part of the cheating themselves. And they have to be willing to sit in a room...

MALVEAUX: Right.

PERRY: ... like these folks are alleged, and call out answers and have them erased for whatever number of tests that there are. There's a real commitment to the cheating in order for this to occur.

MALVEAUX: So Steve, just moving forward here, how do you prevent something like this from happening in the future?

PERRY: You know, it's like asking how do you stop people from speeding. I don't really know, but I think what has to happen is that the people who have been caught up to this point must be fired, and in many cases, they have to lose their license to work with children as educators to make it very clear that if you're going to go this far to undermine the profession, then you don't need to be a part of it.

MALVEAUX: All right. Steve Perry, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Good seeing you.

PERRY: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Well, what is going on in some neighborhoods in Florida? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN CRISANTE, SWEEPSTAKES CAFE OWNER: It looks like a duck, talks like a duck, walks like a duck, but it's not a duck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Strip malls being confused for casinos? Well, now Florida police are cracking down. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Getting more information in about this Amtrak crash collision. We' are learning here -- the spokeswoman -- a dispatcher for Sanford Regional Communications confirms that an Amtrak passenger train collided with a truck in North Berwick, Maine, around 11:00 o'clock this morning, that there are injuries, some of them serious. We don't know how many.

But we do know -- we have just confirmed -- we have just learned that the driver of the tractor-trailer has died. We do not know about the extent of injuries or even if there are any fatalities regarding passengers aboard the Amtrak train. That's Amtrak Downeaster number 691 that was involved in this collision shortly after 11:00 o'clock this morning.

But we are learning that the driver involved in the collision of the tractor-trailer has died. We're looking at pictures from WCVB from a chopper's point of view, and still information coming. We don't have a lot of information. But you can see there the devastation as the outcome of that Amtrak Downeaster number 691 involved in a collision with a truck in North Berwick, Maine. And so far now, we have confirmation of one fatality, the driver of the tractor-trailer.

On to another story, getting into the casino experience at Florida's strip mall. Well, some establishments offer sweepstakes games which many say look suspiciously like slot machines. But they've been operating with an illegal gray area.

As Poppy Harlow tells us, police officers in Florida have now had enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to Florida? This isn't the Vegas strip, it's a strip mall. Between barbershops and massage parlors, so-called sweepstakes cafes are popping up across the country. They've got the markings of a casino, free food, dark rooms, some open 24 hours.

(on camera): Does it feel like gambling to a little bit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's what I like about it.

HARLOW (voice-over): But are they casinos? Law enforcement thinks so, and they are shutting them down because here in Florida, only certain highly regulated operators are allowed to run casinos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In our opinion, it's clearly gambling.

HARLOW: Owners say that's not the case.

MEGAN CRISANTE, SWEEPSTAKES CAFE OWNER: It looks like a duck, talks like a duck, walks like a duck, but it's not a duck. Sweepstakes is a predetermined pool of tickets. it's totally different. HARLOW: And in every one, you'll find a sign like this.

(on camera): Just to give you a sense of how many of these sweepstakes cafes there are, you've got one right here, you've got two across the street. They would not let us in. They would not talk to us. Right around the corner here, you've got another.

(voice-over): Here's how they work. You buy a phone card or Internet time and get free sweepstakes points in return, then log on and play away. Unlike a slot machine, where you pay just to play, sweepstakes players are actually getting a product for their money, which the owners say makes this legal.

But you can still lose money, just like in a slot machine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ended up losing 15 bucks.

HARLOW: Don Fiechter runs World Touch Gaming and sells these terminals for 1,500 bucks a pop.

DON FIECHTER, WORLD TOUCH GAMING: I get a fraction of a penny per entry revealed (ph).

HARLOW: Making it a lucrative business for software developers and store owners, who can bank up to $40,000 a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually says that the total prizes over the next thousand entries will total $39.55.

HARLOW: That's predetermination, which would make this legal. But as we found, not every place operates that way, and now many are getting raided by cops. Florida state representative Peter Nehr actually opened a sweepstakes cafe, only to have it shut down two months later.

PETER NEHR, FLORIDA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It's not a gambling operation. It is a retail business who uses sweepstakes to promote their business.

HARLOW: But Sheriff Coates (ph) isn't buying it, and he's ordering them shut left and right.

(on camera): What games do you like to play?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The winning one!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And just the facts, please. We're testing recent statements from politicians with our Truth-O-Meter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Every day it seems another politician makes a statement that makes us stop and think, is that really true? Well, Angie Holan is a reporter for the "St. Petersburg Time." She and others at politifact.com have been putting some of the quotes through the Truth- O-Meter.

Angie, what about this one from President Obama? During his Twitter town hall, he said, when President Bill Clinton raised the top tax rates to levels now proposed by him, the country experienced significant job growth. What do you think, Angie?

ANGIE HOLAN, POLITIFACT.COM: Suzanne, we rated this one half true. President Obama is correct that tax rates were higher under President Bill Clinton and the economy was expanding. But the way he said this, it gives the impression that the higher tax rates may have caused the growth. And the economists we spoke with said there are many factors in a dynamic economy that can cause it to grow or expand. And especially when you're talking about small changes in the tax rate. So we rated this one half true.

MALVEAUX: OK. And Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, he said that despite its struggle, his campaign has exactly the same challenges as Ronald Reagan's successful 1980 bid. True or false.

HOLAN: We rated this one barely true. There's a smidge of truth there, and that's that Reagan did shake up his campaign staff during that 1980 campaign. But there are many differences between the Reagan campaign then and the Gingrich campaign today. We've documented on our website, biggest difference, Reagan was doing well and he shook up his own staff because he wanted to do better. The reports today say Gingrich's staff left him.

MALVEAUX: OK. Big difference.

And, finally, listen to what Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said recently during a debate over the tax code.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: Fifty-one percent, that's a majority of American households, paid no income tax in 2009. Zero. Zip. Nadda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: What do we think?

HOLAN: We gave this one a -- we gave this one a true. Senator Cornyn said income taxes and popular deductions for say mortgage interest or child tax credits do send that tax bill to zero. Now we should note, even low wage workers pay payroll taxes. Those go to fund Medicare and Social Security. But when you're talking about income taxes, he's right, and we rated it true.

MALVEAUX: All right, Angie, thanks for keeping them honest there. Appreciate it.

Well, answering the call of duty. An Army reservist puts Harvard on hold. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Swapping a dream job to enlist on the frontlines. An Army reservist put Harvard on hold while he fought for the country. Well, now he's returned and he's at the front of a revolutionary research on brain trauma. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has today's "Human Factor" story.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kit Parker (ph) always wanted to be a bioengineering professor at Harvard. He thought he was going to develop the next great heart medicine. But in 2002, when he was offered his dream job, there was a catch. He was in the Army reserves and he signed up with a unit that he knew was headed to battle. So Army Major Kit Parker told Harvard --

KIT PARKER, HARVARD UNIVERSITY/SEAS: Hey, hold the job, I've got to go fight. And I took off for a year to go fight in Afghanistan.

GUPTA: He spent much of 2002 and 2003 near Kandahar hunting for Taliban. He came back to Harvard. But in 2009, with the National Guard unit, he went back to Afghanistan.

PARKER: And so I spent a lot of time with rock clearance units looking for IEDs. And we got hit several times. And vehicles in front of me blown up. My vehicle never got hit. I was very lucky. Very, very lucky. And when you run up there and pull open the door of that MRAP and see your injured buddies, you'll never forget that sight.

GUPTA: This time, back home, he began to explore the science of brain injury.

PARKER: What happens when the brain gets hit by a blast wave and slams up against the inside of the skull.

GUPTA: With colleagues at Northeastern University, Parker built new tools to study how a blast effects the brain. It could be years before this leads to new treatments, but Parker hopes that eventually will have a broad impact.

PARKER: Concussions that your favorite football player suffers, or the head injury you get when you're in a car accident and your head snaps forward, or shaken baby syndrome, these are all examples of non- penetrating head injuries that can cause a traumatic brain injury.

GUPTA: Today, his Harvard lab is humming with young graduate students. More than half a dozen are veterans.

PARKER: We're very focused on this because these are our buddies. These are our guys. You know, this could have been us. It might still be us. So it brings a certain level of urgency to what we're trying to do.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: After a grizzly mauled a man to death inside Yellowstone National Park, things for hikers were quite intense. One woman got the fright of her life when another bear got to close. Our Patrick Oppmann watched it all happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days after a fatal grizzly bear attack here, another too-close-for-comfort brush with a bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the hiker know?

OPPMANN: This is a black bear. Not as big or aggressive as a grizzly, but capable of attacking humans. As the bear approaches her, hiker Erin Prophet runs out of ground to retreat to. The bear doesn't charge her, but isn't backing down either. Erin gets ready to make a swim for it. But then kayakers paddling nearby drag her across the lake to safety before the bear also goes for a dip.

ERIN PROPHET, HIKER: When the guys in the kayak offered to pull me across, I thought that seemed like a better plan, because the bear seemed like it wanted to be down there by the edge, so --

OPPMANN (on camera): I've got to ask you, how afraid were you?

PROPHET: I was pretty afraid. I really was.

OPPMANN (voice-over): So were her rescuers.

DAVE BEECHAM, PARK VISITOR: When the bear was getting closer to her and she dropped her pack, apparently she had an apple in the pack, and we just thought it was a good idea to go and get her at that point.

OPPMANN: Kerry Gunther, the park's bear expert, takes me back across the lake to retrieve Erin's backpack and look for the bear. He keeps a can of super powered mace, called bear spray, at the ready.

OPPMANN (on camera): We've just recovered Erin's shoes and her backpack that she left behind when the bear started coming towards her. We're going to return them to her right now. She'll probably be happy to get those back. And luckily we didn't see the bear.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Rangers say injuries from bear attacks at the park are rare. About one per year. And can be prevented.

OPPMANN (on camera): Now, if we were walking down a path like this one and we were approached by a bear, what would you do?

KERRY GUNTHER, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: If we encountered a bear, I would first try backing away. If the bear followed us, then I would stand my ground. If he continued towards us, then I would pull out the bear spray, pull the safety tab off and fire. OPPMANN (voice-over): Sometimes it's not just the animals that get too close.

(on camera): As you can see, Yellowstone's animals often venture into public places and that can attract crowds of tourists. The challenge for park ranger is keeping both humans and animals safe.

(voice-over): Because somehow even in thousands of miles of open wilderness, it can get a little crowded.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, at the Yellowstone National Park.

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye.

Hey, Randi.